More White Hart Lane pain for Anderlecht

White Hart Lane sits well as a venue for European magic, and as fans waited for the players of Tottenham Hotspur and Anderlecht on a chilly November evening, they were reminded just how long that had been the case.

Before kick-off on Thursday, the big screens behind the goal at either end showed archive footage of the 1984 UEFA Cup final second leg between the same teams and at the same north London venue, which Tottenham eventually won after a nail-biting penalty shoot-out.

The last kick of the shoot-out, taken by Anderlecht's Arnór Gudjohnsen (father of UEFA Champions League winner Eidur), was superbly parried by home goalkeeper Tony Parks, plunging low to his right to clinch victory.

There was late heartbreak again for Les Mauves et Blancs in the UEFA Europa League 31 years on. After they had "dominated", in the words of their outstanding midfielder Steven Defour, a Mousa Dembélé blockbuster from outside the area undid all Anderlecht's hard work. The irony of the knockout blow being delivered by a Belgian was not lost on anyone in the visiting camp.

"I know Mousa very well," Defour grinned ruefully after the 2-1 Group J loss. "He doesn't usually shoot with his right foot. The difference between Tottenham and Anderlecht was being clinical in front of goal. They had two or three chances and scored two goals, while we had a lot more and only scored once. It's a shame."

Steven Defour at White Hart Lane©AFP

"It's really difficult," right-back Guillaume Gillet concurred. "We played an incredible second half. We came back into the match and even had chances to make it 2-1 [after equalising]. Then we conceded a wonderful goal like that, and from a Belgian player too. It hurts. We deserved at least a draw tonight.

"Some Anderlecht players know the history, so we really wanted to get our revenge, and we did to an extent in the first game [a 2-1 win in Brussels]," he continued. "Our aim, though, was to bring back at least a point from here and that hasn't been the case, but we've shown that Belgian football is on the right road."

There were positives to be gleaned, Gillet conceded, in Anderlecht delivering a display of such authority against one of the English Premier League's leading lights. "Over the two games against Tottenham, we showed that we're as strong as they are, which is good, but tonight we didn't get the most out of it," he noted.

Matchday five's meeting with AS Monaco has now assumed paramount importance, with Defour and Gillet aware that Anderlecht must win to lever themselves back into Group J contention. "After this performance tonight, we can do it," Defour said, Gillet adding: "If we produce the same sort of football that we have over the two matches against Tottenham, we can win in Monaco."